Cooling tower



Nov. 1, 1927. 1,647,281

F. M. DOYLE COOLING TOWER Filed April 1,. 192e s sheets-shim 1 wwf/1,

Nov. 1, 1927. 1,647,281

F. M. DOYLE COOLING TOWER Filed April 1, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov l. 1927.

F- M- DoYLE COOLING TOWER Filed April 1. 192e "'Hllll In 3 Sheets-sheet 3 fmk /7 ,pp/76 INVENTOR RNEY y -Patented Nou. `1, 1927. n l

UNITED` STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK M. DoYLE, or' BnooxLYi/I, NEW Yonx.

COOLING TOWER.

Application filed April 1, 1926. Serial No. 98,950.

its aspects it is applicable to natural draft towers and to louver type towers.

Heretofore in the art, hot or warm liquids, such as the circulating Water of steam engine condensers, have been cooled by 'subjecting the liquid to the action of cooling currents of air as it descends under the action of gravity in divided form. This cool-.

" ing'process hasusually been carried out in a cooling tower in-which the divided water descends within a vertical casing or enclosure. In so-called louver type towers, the side walls of the enclosure are provided with slats or louvers through which natural air currents may blow to effect cooling. Obviousl the cooling in such towers is very smal upon a calm day and hence towers have heretofore been constructed in which the cooling currents of air are obtained by forced draft. Such towers consist essentially of a vertical casing within which the water. descends, and a fan or the like to cause a draft of air to ascend through the tower. For high eiiiciency, it is necessary that the descending water and the ascending air currents be uniformly divided and distributed throughout the entire cross-section of the tower, and hence distributing means have been used in such towers in attempts to obtain such distribution. In the constructions of the prior art, however, the distribution of the air and water in the tower is not uniform and inmanyfpases, the major portion of the air I passes upward through one Zone of the tower, while the major portion of the water passes downward through another zone of the tower. Prior art towers also have drawbacks in that the means employed to distribute the air and water in the towenoffers quite high resistance to the air currents, and hence makes it necessary to expend a large amount of power in forcing the requisite quantity of air through the tower.

Prior art towers of the forced draft type have also had disadvantages due to the fact that. the height of the tower lhas been increased by an amount at least equal to the diameter of the fan, which has usually been built into the base of the tower. Thus, the

height of the tower has been corresponding y increased. Furthermore, prior art constructions have usually been such that the height of the fan has been added to the total drop of the water, thus making it necessary to pump the water through this increased height in returning it to the steam engine condenser and then back to the top of the tower. Of course, the pumping through this additional height requires additional expenditure of power. a

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of cooling tower in which the water and air is uniformly distributed and mixed throughout the entire A cross-section of the tower.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cooling'tower in which uniform distribution and mixture of the airv and water is obtained without causing material tion to the flow of the alr.

Another object of the invention is to reduce thev height of forced .draft cooling towers.` l

A further object ofthe invention is to reduce the -pumping head caused by the fall of water through the cooling tower without substantial reduction of the amount of cooling obtained.

A'still further object of the invention is to provide a highly effective forced draft cooling tower of simple and inexpensive construction and havingtlow power requirements and operating costs.

In accordance with the above vand other objects of applicants invention, his preferred form of construction, as' disclosed onv the drawings, comprises a generally vertical casinor sub-divided into a plurality of vertical ues. Spraying devices finely divide the water to be cooled and discharge it into the upper parts of these iues. The water descends by gravity through the iues which contain distributing devices that distribute and redistribute the water at definite c points in its descent, thus securing fine sub-I division and uniform distribution of the water throughout the entire cross-section of i rangement issuch that-the cooling tower has a vertically extending cooling zone which l extends downwardly from the highest point to which the water is sprayed, to the collecting device positioned near the bottom of the casing.

The forced .draft of air is delivered to the vertical casing immediately beneath the wah` .from a suitable blower or the like that is" vspaced horizontally from the casing. This conduit is of such form that it decreases iu height as it approaches the casing, thus making it possible to admity the air to theV casing through a side wall opening that is of lesser height than .the diameter of the fan. This `construction correspondingly reduces the overall height of the tower.

Fig. 1 of the drawings is a diagrammatic elevation of the cooling tower having a portion of the side wall cut away to show the arrangement of parts'within the tower.

Fig.v 2 isa fragmentary perspective view of the interior of the tower, showing the arrangement of. parts in one of the vertical 1 flues.

`Fig.-3 is a diagrammatic plan view ,of the tower shown in ",Fig. 1 with portions of the various distributing devices 'cut away to show the ones beneath. l l V Fig., 4 is a.- fragmentary diagrammatic plan view of the piping to the water sprays in the top of the tower.

Fig. 5 is a .detailed sectional View taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1 to show the form of the air conduit.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic sectional view showlng the manner in which the stream of air enters the casing and is distributed as it startsto ascend through the vertical easing.

Referring more particularly to F igs. 1, 2,

y and 3, the tower co prises a rectangular vertical casing 1 subivlded 1nto four vertical flues by partitions 2, 3, 4, and 5, which extend from a point near the bottom of the casing to within a short distance of the top of the casing`- Water to be cooled is delivered into the upper portion of each of the four `vertical flues through suitable spray nozzles 7, which receive the water from .Y branch pipes 8 and spray `it upwardly in finely divided form. The water descends through successive distributors denoted as a whole by A, B, and C. Each of these dis tributing devicesconsists of a horizontally arranged series of inclined Slat-like memA bers 10, ywhich may be secured in place in any suitable manner. Formed on the lower edge of each Iof the Slat-like members 1() is a shallow trough711 from rwhich depends a short strip of metal gauze 12. The arrangenemesi ment of the Slat-likev members is such that the upper edge of one member is directly over the lower edge of the adjacent member so that all of the water is intercepted by the Slat-like members as it falls. The water from the sprays is intercepted by the slatlike members of distributor A and collected in the shallow troughs 11 from which 'it overflows down to the strips of metal gauze 12 from which it drips off in finely divided form.' As the water descends, it is correspondingly intercepted and redistributed by distributors B and C. At the bottom of the cooling zone, the water is intercepted and collected by a collector-distributor denoted as a wholel by D. This collector comprises a horizontally arranged series of Slat-likel members 14, each of which has a pair ofv troughs 15 and 16 formed upon its upper face. The water collects in these troughs from which it is discharged into suitable earrysoff troughs 17 and delivered to a collector trough 18, which is connected with a suitable pump 19.

The bottom of the vertical casing is closed by a suitable inclined plate 21which forms a wedged-shaped space beneath the collectordistributor D. The Icollector-distributor corresponds to oneof the diverging faces of the wedges and the plate v21 is the opposite diverging face of the wedge. A current of air is deliveredY to the vertical casing through an opening in the side wall of`the casing at a point which corresponds to the base of the wedged-shaped spaceybeneath the air distributor. Tlhe air enters the casing in a directidn .parallel to the inclined plate 21, and

as shown in Fig. 6, successive vrlayers of the current of air strike the inclined members of the collector-distributor D and are deflected upwardly into the tower in such a way as to produce uniform distribution of the air.` 1t l is seen that the device-D collects the water and distributes the air. Hence it has been denominated a 1collector-distributor". As shown by the arrows in Fig 1, the air passes upwardly through distributors C, B, and A. which distribute and redistribute it as, it ascends, thus maintaining uniformv dist/ribution of the air throughout the entire crosssection of the tower and causing uniform mixture of the ascending airand the de-' scending water. It will be ynoted that the slat-like members in collector-,distributor D run perpendicularly to those indistributor C which in turn are perpendicular to those lin distributor B, and so on. This arrangement produces very uniform distribution and intimate mixture of the air and water. Furthermore, it will be noted that as the air The current of air is supplied to the ver- 'tical casing through a conduit 25, which leads from a sui/table fan or blower 26. By reference to Fig. 5, it will be noted that this conduit is of such form that it is of substantially uniform cross-sectional areav throughout its length, but at the fan end, it is' circular to correspond to the shape of the fan, while as it approaches the vertical casing 1 of the cooling tower, it Icontinually decreases in height so that the conduit at the cooling tower,en`d is of much less height than it is at the fan end.` Accordingly', the fan is mounted so that a part of its swee is above the distributor-collector D, and ence the fan-adds only a comparatively 'small amount to the over-all height of the cooling tower. The height of the vertical casing at one si'de is not increased at all by reason'of thefan, while at the other side, it is onlyfincreased a height equal to the height of the base of the wedged-shaped' space beneath the distributor-collector D, which is much less than the totaldiameter of the fan.

It is seen that the construction is one in which the distributors A, B, C, and D oder only an exceedingly small resistance to the ascending air currents, thus ecoriomizing `in the power required to drive the fan. Furthermore, the cooledwater is collected as soon as it reaches the bottom of the cooling zone established by the collector-distributor `D and hence in returning the watergto the condenser and back to the top of the'booling tower, itis only necessary to pump through a relatively small pumping head indicated in Fig. 1. This effects decided economy in the` power' required to drive the water pump.

To prevent any of the water from being blown away by the wind as it is sprayed up, the casingl extends a short distance above the sprays 7.

rloprevent any water from running to the fan lcasing which through leakage or other causes might descend to the wedge shaped space beneath the distributor D, a suitable drain 28 is provided. `This drain may bev provided with a water seal 33 to prevent any 'of the air delivered to the wedge-shaped spa'ce from passing out through pipe.

The invention has been illustrated dia- ,grammatioally and hence it is to be understood that any suitable mechanical construction can be used in building and supportin the vertical casing, mounting the distri utors A, B, C, and D, the fan 26, the pump 19, etc. The construction is one the drain I which can be readily built from standard plates, angle irons, I beams, channel beams, etc. The distributors and other parts with which the water comes in contact may be formed of anyV suitable corrosive resisting material.

It is realized that the present invention may be employed in forms other than those particularly disclosed and'hence the disclosure is to be considered as illustrative and not` as limiting. Cooling towers are used primarily for cooling the water from steam enginei condensers and hence 'the inventionv has been described in this connection, and for convenience the term water has been used to designate the liquid to be cooled. However, it -is to be understood that the invention. is not limited to use for cooling water, but that it can be used for cooling any hquid.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is y 1. A cooling tower comprising asubstantially vertical casing, an air distributor trav,- ersing said casing, means forming a wedge shaped space beneath the distributor, means to finely divide water to be cooled and supply it to the space within the casing at a point above the air distributor, means to collect the water at the level of the air distributor, means to supply a stream of air to the wedge-shaped space through the base portionthereof, and drain means -to carry ol any moisturewhich may descend to the wedge-shaped space. ,y l, ,2. A cooling tower comp'risinga Vertical casing; a plurality of vertically spaced air and water distributors traversing said casing, said distributors comprising substan tially horizontally arranged series of in#l clined slatglike members; vertical partition means dividing said casing into a plurality of flues; means tov discharge water to be# cooled at a level above the distributors, where- 1 `by the water passes downward through the lll) members; means to discharge. water to be cooled at a level 'above the uppermost distributor,whereby the water vpasses downf wardly under the action of gravity; means to collect the water at the level of the lowermost distributor; and means to force a current of air upward through the distributors.

4. A cooling tower comprising a vertical casing; a plurality of vertically spaced air and water distributors traversing said casing, each distributor comprising a substantially vhorizontally arranged series of inclined slat-likemembers which members are provided at their lower edges with troughs,

r l y the troughs of the lowermost distributor bedistributor, whereby the water passes downward through the distributors under thc action ot gravity and overflows from the disf lributor troughs which are above the lowerniost distributor, and means to force a cnrrent ot' air upward through the distributors.

A coolii'lg tower comprising a Vertical casing, a. plurality of vertically 'spaced air and water distributors traversing said casing, said distributors comprising series of inclined Slat-like members, troughs on the bottoms ot' said Slat-like members, and strips ot gauze depending from said troughs; means to discharge water to be cooled above' the series of distributors whereby the water passes downward through the distributors under the action 'ot gravity, and means to force a current of air upward through the distributors.

6. In a cooling tower, a distributor comprising a horizontally arranged series of inclined slat-like members, a trough on the bottom of each Slat-like member adapted to collect water and allow it to overflow, and a strip of gauze depending from each slatlike member.

''In a substantially horizontal cooling tower, ar water collection unit'comprising a series ot' inclined Slat-like members arranged to intercept water descending through the tower, means forming troughs on the faces of the Slat-like members to receive ythe intercepted water, and at least one carry off trough positioned to receive water from the ends ot' the troughs on the Slat-like members.

8. A cooling tower comprising a substantially vertical"'casing; a substantially horizontal. collector-distributor traversing said casing, said collector-distributor comprising a series of inclined Slat-like members arranged to distribute air delivered to the casreaaaei ing beneath the collector-distributor and toKL intercept water descending through Vthe tower, and means forming troughs on the faces of ythe Slat-like members; at least one Y carry otfrtrough positioned to receive water from the ends of the troughs on the Slat-like members; means forming ,a substantially wedge-shaped space beneath the collector-- distributor and to intercept water descendc ing through the tower, and means forming Vtroughs on the faces of the Slat-like members; at least one carry off trough positioned' to receive water from the ends of the troughs on the slat-like members; means forming a substantially wedge-shaped space beneath the collector-distributor; and means to supply a stream of air to the wedge-shaped space through the base-portion thereof.

l0. vA cooling tower comprising a vertical casingya plurality of vertically spaced air and water distributors traversing said casing, each distributor-comprising a substantially horizontally arranged series of inclined Slat-like members with `the members of one distributor perpendicular to the members of the next, distributor; means to discharge water to be cooled at a level above the uppermost distributor, whereby the water passes downward through the distributors and falls freely through the spaces between the distributors; and means to force a current of air upward through `the distributors; said construction causing the air to cutdiagonallyacross the path of the descending water as the airI leaves the distributors. Y

FRANK M. DOYLE. 

